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Hilton Worldwide, one of the biggest hotel conglomerates on earth, has
announced a seismic foray into the mobile realm, with new
technology that will enable guests at over 4,000 properties
worldwide to reserve and customize their rooms -- and even
open hotel doors -- all with the touch of a smartphone.

Though Hilton introduced digital check-ins more than five years
ago, now guests will be able to “choose their exact room from
digital floor plans,” purchase upgrades, make other special
amenity requests and check out -- all from their mobile devices.

The capabilities, which Hilton referred to in a press release as
a “first for the hospitality industry,” will be enacted by year’s
end in more than 650,000 rooms in 80 countries. The nearly
century-old company operates 11 hotel brands, including Waldorf
Astoria, DoubleTree, Embassy Suites and more. The Wall Street
Journal places the total cost of the
implementation at $550 million.

Beyond reservations, the company will also enable guests to
bypass the check-in desk entirely with technology that turns
their smartphones into room keys, arriving next year.

“Travelers can use their smartphones as boarding passes to get to
their seats on an airplane,” said Hilton president and CEO,
Christopher Nassetta, in a statement. “So it is only natural that
they will want to use them as a way to enter their hotel rooms.”

Such increased mobile activity may spell job losses for Hilton
hotel staffers -- or, as the Journal puts it, enable the
company to “run a leaner operation that is likely to reap
savings.”